Italian belligerence also closed the Mediterranean to Allied merchant ships and endangered British supply routes along the coast of East Africa, the Gulf of Aden, Red Sea and the Suez Canal. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France, which made Italian military forces in Libya a threat to Egypt and those in the Italian East Africa a danger to the British and French territories in the Horn of Africa. Second World War and dissolution Įast Africa Campaign northern front: Allied advances in 1941 ![]() ![]() The maintenance and creation of Ethiopian colonies was very costly. Italian East Africa was formed on 1 June 1936, shortly after the conquest, by merging the pre-existing colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea with the newly conquered territory. Mussolini's international popularity decreased as he endorsed the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, beginning a political tilt toward Germany that eventually led to the downfall of Mussolini and the Fascist regime in Italy in World War II. The Italian victory in the war coincided with the zenith of the international popularity of dictator Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime, during which colonialist leaders praised Mussolini for his actions. In 1937 the friendship of Seyoum Mengesha with the Italian Viceroy Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta enabled this Ras to play an influential role in securing the release of 3,000 Ethiopian POWs being held in Italian Somaliland. Some Ethiopians welcomed the Italians and collaborated with them in the government of the newly created Italian Empire, like Ras Seyoum Mengesha, Ras Getachew Abate and Ras Kebbede Guebret. Emperor Haile Selassie was forced to flee the country, with Italian forces entering the capital city, Addis Ababa, to proclaim an " Italian Empire of Ethiopia" by. Unlike forty years earlier, Italy's forces were far superior to the Ethiopian forces, especially in air power, and they were soon victorious. A middle way interpretation was offered by the American historian MacGregor Knox, who argued that the war was started for both foreign and domestic reasons, being both a part of Mussolini's long-range expansionist plans and intended to give Mussolini a foreign policy triumph that would allow him to push the Fascist system in a more radical direction at home. Other historians such as Pietro Pastorelli have argued that the invasion was launched as part of an expansionist program to make Italy the main power in the Red Sea area and the Middle East. Some Italian historians such as Franco Catalano and Giorgio Rochat argue that the invasion was an act of social imperialism, contending that the Great Depression had badly damaged Mussolini's prestige, and that he needed a foreign war to distract public opinion. Historians are still divided about the reasons for the Italian attack on Ethiopia in 1935. Occupied Eritrea became an autonomous part of Ethiopia in 1952, and was later annexed by the Ethiopian Empire in 1962.Ībyssinian nobles Seyoum Mengesha, Getachew Abate and Kebbede Guebret submit to Benito Mussolini in February 1937. In 1950, occupied Somalia became the United Nations Trust Territory of Somaliland, administered by Italy from 1950 until its independence in 1960. ![]() ![]() After the war, Italian Somalia and Eritrea came under British administration, while Ethiopia regained its independence. ĭuring the Second World War, Italian East Africa was occupied by a British-led force including colonial units and Ethiopian guerrillas in November 1941. Fascist colonial policy had a divide and conquer characteristic, and favoured the Oromos, the Somalis and other Muslims in an attempt to weaken their ties to the Amharas who had been the ruling ethnic group in the Ethiopian Empire. The remainder of " Italian Ethiopia" consisted the Harar, Galla-Sidamo, Amhara, and Scioa Governorates. Eritrea and Somalia, Italian possessions since the 1880s, were enlarged with captured Ethiopian territory and became the Eritrea and Somalia Governorates. Italian East Africa was divided into six governorates. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. Italian East Africa ( Italian: Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |